


Rivers Until I Reach You

by YewRose



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Background Rumbelle, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Emma Swan, F/M, Gen, Past Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, background Snowing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5161976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YewRose/pseuds/YewRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU from Operation Mongoose on. Neal finds himself undead in the Enchanted Forest with a cursed Emma. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, Emma has a lot family trying to save her. [Charming/Stiltskin/Swan/Mills family focused, with eventual Swanfire.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rivers Until I Reach You

**Author's Note:**

> For mallie-taylor. Title comes from The Head and The Hearts' song "Rivers and Roads."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gift-fic for mallie-taylor.tumblr.com! Done for the Nealfire Exchange.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I'd hope to have this story completed in it's entirety for you by today, but it doesn't look like that's possible. So here's the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

When Neal Cassidy was resurrected, it had hurt like hell.

Gasping, he reached out desperately for the last things he'd had when he was dying. Family. He needed to find his family. He had to make sure they were okay. What the hell had happened? Just a second ago they had been safe, hadn't they? Neal remembered lots of pain, incredible pain, but also a strong sense of relief. He knew that his family would be safe. He just knew it.

Neal didn't have that feeling anymore.

He groped blindly in the darkness, trying to find something. Something should be here. He could still feel the ghost of Emma's warm cheek against his, the bounding pulse of his father pushed firmly against his hand. Where were they?

"Emma? Papa?" He wanted to shout, but the words only came out as clipped coughs.

It took three tries, but Neal eventually struggled his way onto his feet.

Where was he? He should be in the forest outside of Storybrooke. Instead, he was in this place. Extremely dark, so probably underground. Neal closed his eyes, and yes, there it was, he could hear the faint trickling of water. He was in a cave.

Why the hell was he in a cave?

On second thought, why the hell was he alive? He had died. He should be dead. Why wasn't he dead?

Neal touched his face, poked his cheek, ruffled his hair. He was definitely alive, all the same parts, in his same body. Anyone else would have been thrilled at the miracle of a second chance at life, but Neal Cassidy had seen miracles. And had seen their price tags.

All magic...

"Papa, you didn't," he whispered to himself.

Last time his father had lost him, he spent 300 years ruining lives to ultimately curse an entire town for twenty eight years just to see him again. What kind of atrocities had he committed to raise him from the dead?

Neal was sure he was going to throw up. He didn't want to believe that his Papa had fallen back into old ways but the evidence - namely, his pounding, beating, heart - was pretty damning.

Neal fanned his arms out in front of him, until they hit damp rock. Finally, something he could touch. Something to prove that he wasn't the only thing in this darkness.

Dying had not been fun, at all. But at least then he hadn't been alone.

Neal followed the feel of the rock, traveling further and further into the darkness, when a familiarity washed over him. A slow slithering of power - magic, dark magic - reached out to him. Electricity sizzled his skin. Every inch of blankness seemed to be pointing at him. Like the shadows themselves were watching.

It was a terrible feeling, but comforting nonetheless. He knew who was there.

“Papa,” Neal breathed out, "What is going on?"

The shadows gave way to a figure, as regal and elegant as a knight's blade, and just as frightening.

" _Neal_." It said.

 

* * *

 

 

“So let me get this straight,” Regina Mills said, “We've been working on opening this portal to the Enchanted Forest for a year, and right on the brink of our success, you're choosing _now_ to get cold feet?!”

In Gold's Pawn Shop, kneeling at the bedside of a comatose Rumpelstiltskin, Belle French glared up at her.

“I can't just leave him here. He's alone.” The 'he's dying' was left unsaid.

“Unbelievable,” said Regina.

“Blue says he's stable,” Charming said, and the Blue Fairy nodded in agreement. “He's been in the same condition for the last year, Belle.”

Losing her ferocity, Belle's shoulders slumped, “I know. I know, but I can't –”

Snow interrupted, “Belle, we need you. Emma needs you. There's no one here with more experience with the Dark One than you.”

“I know,” Belle repeated, “I want to save Emma, I do, she's my friend. But if something were to happen to him while I was gone I...”

Hook smashed his hook into a display case, “For the love of – we are wasting time! Why don't we just bring the bloody crocodile with us?”

“That's a great idea!” said Henry.

“Absolutely not!” said Regina, at the same time.

“No, Mom, think about it,” said Henry, rushing towards her, “If Grandpa Stiltskin were to wake up while we were there, he could help us save my mom!”

Regina looked at Henry with a mix of utmost love and pity.

“Henry,” she said, grabbing his shoulder, “I know you see the good in everyone but just because Rumpelstiltskin isn't the Dark One anymore doesn't make him any less of a bastard if he were to wake up.”

“Her majesty is right,” said the Blue Fairy, “There's no telling the lengths Rumpelstiltskin might go to regain his powers.”

“I'm not leaving him.” Belle's voice had never sounded more final.

“Mom,” Henry said, “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Before Regina could say that Rumpelstiltskin had already had thirty, Charming spoke.

“I agree with Henry.”

“What?” snapped Regina.

“Think about it, Regina. It's been a year since we saw Emma. We don't know what's she been going through. We need something to remind her that we can beat the darkness.”

“And you think showing her a guy in a coma is going to get her spreading joy and cheer again?”

“Charming's right,” said Snow, turning to smile at Regina, “There is no stronger magic than hope.”

“Good, then we are all agreed!” Hook said, with sarcastic cheer, “Let's _go_.”

Henry took his mom's hand. “It'll work. Trust me.”

Regina sighed, and pulled out the Apprentice's wand. “Alright, fine. The dead weight can come too.”

“Wait,” said Belle, standing up to stop Regina.

“Oh, what now?” Regina hissed. In the background, Hook cursed.

“It's probably a bad idea to take the shop,” said Belle, “there's a lot of, um, peculiar stuff here. There's no telling what could activate if exposed to realm-traveling magic.”

“Fine, we take the reptile to Granny's then, can we just make with the saving of Emma, already?”

 

* * *

 

She'd done it.

Magic had always felt good. As soon as she'd let it, there was nothing that felt better than that power, that control, that knowledge that everything could be just as she wanted it now.

But _this_ – seeing his face, hearing his breathing – this pleasure was overwhelming.

"I did it," she marveled, "I did it."

"Emma? Is that you?” Neal searched with his hands wildly. “Emma, where are you?"

It was cute how panicked Neal sounded for her. As if anything could ever hurt her now.

“I'm right here, Neal,” she said, before she remembered they were it pitch blackness. Sometimes those kinds of things slipped her mind now. How little humans could see. How ineffective a little darkness rendered them.

She swished her hand and torches lit all around them.

Neal made a run for her but stopped in his tracks when he saw her face. It didn't matter. In the blink of an eye, Emma was face to face with him.

"What no other before has done," she traced her hand down his cheek, "I did. I brought back the dead."

Neal flinched away like he'd been burn. Emma look down at her hand, glittering and scaly. Right, of course. This cave would show her true self, her cursed flesh.

She looked up at Neal. "Don't be frightened."

"Who are you?” he said, slowly, forcefully. It was interesting. She had never witnessed Neal try to be threatening before.

"I am Emma."

“ _Liar_.” Neal's eyes were flashing. But the fear rolled off of him in waves. “What have you done to the real Emma?"

Emma arched a brow. If Neal really did think she was just some run of the mill thing that goes bump in the night, he was approaching this very foolishly. Antagonizing something as obviously powerful as she was with no powers of his own. Why?

“You know,” said Emma, “if you'd been this intimating back then we might have been able to get out of that pool match without me having to break a bottle over Little Frankie's head.”

Neal's eyes widened and then he shook his head, “Don't play games with me! There's a million magic ways you could know that, without being Emma.”

“But I am Emma.” She walked towards Neal, and he backed away from her, until she had him cornered against the rocks.

"Look at me, Neal,” she said, running a nail through his hair. He refused, glaring at the empty space behind her.

“Neal,” she said softly, and finally caught his eyes. So doe-like. Always readable. She'd loved that about him.

“It's me. You know it's me.”

"No," Neal said, "No, no no. _Emma_. Who did this to you?”

“I did this to myself.” Neal looked like someone had shot him. Given that Emma had actually seen him shot, it wasn't an exaggeration.

Neal looked down at his feet, his hands buried in his hair. “This can't be happening.”

“Neal.”

“No,” Neal whispered, “No.”

“Neal, look at me.”

“No, no, no.”

It would be best if Neal could accept their situation as soon as possible. Emma could not leave him any room to lie to himself. Not in this.

“I am the Dark One, Neal.”

“No!” Neal spun around and rammed his fist into the cave wall. He pulled it back, bloodied and broken.

“Well, that was ineffective,” said Emma. She reached for his hand.

“No, don't – ” Neal started, but Emma had already healed it.

Neal stared at his unharmed hand, and Emma stared at him. Finally, Emma saw Neal start to breathe again. Or at least try.

“So my father, he's...”

“Relax,” said Emma, and it felt good to give him something she knew he'd be happy with, “Gold's alive. At least, last I heard.”

"Last you heard?"

Emma shifted. “It's been a year saw I last saw him. Or anyone from Storybrooke.”

Raw panic had Neal's head up in a flash. "Henry? Is he okay?"

Emma straightened. "He's not with me. I have to get him back. _We_ have to get him back."

The fear instantly vanished from Neal's eyes and settled into determination.

“Of course. Where is he?”

“With Regina and my parents in Storybrooke.”

Neal scoffed, “Figures. So who's taken over that town now? Zelena? Goldilocks? The Three Little Pigs?”

“No, nothing like that. Mary Margaret is the Mayor.”

Neal furrowed his brows.

“Okay, so is there like a memory spell going on? Is some kind of anti-magic creep trying to destroy the town?”

“No. Storybrooke is safe.”

The silence stretched around them.

“So,” Neal paused, “Henry's okay?”

“He doesn't have his mother,” Emma all but snarled, “Of course, he's not okay.”

Neal threw his hands up. “Okay, okay! I get it.”

“Geez,” he said with a small chuckle, “You looked like you're going to turn me into a snail there for a second or something.”

For reasons beyond even Emma's now considerable comprehension powers, Neal's laughter turned to full out hysterics. Soon, he was doubled over and clutching his stomach.

“I don't get the joke,” Emma said stiffly.

“Yeah,” said Neal, head bent over, staring at the ground, “Me either.”

It was then Emma realized she had gotten it wrong. He wasn't laughing. He was crying.

“Neal,” she said, voice cracking ever so slightly.

Neal looked up at her, brown eyes wide and broken. "Emma, what is going on here? What happened to you?"

And suddenly Emma was seventeen again, in the back of her yellow bug, watching Neal thrash in his sleep. Back then, she could kiss him, whisper sweet nothings in his ear. Just hold him.

But they weren't kids anymore. No, he had gone and broken her heart, left her twice. And she had embraced the darkness inside her. They were so different than those lost kids shoplifting their way from meal to meal. Tallahasse hadn't come.

Neal's lip trembled just a little, his tell tale sign of suffering. The same through all these years. And just the same, all Emma wanted was to take away his pain. But how? How could she quickly explain that despite than ominous title, being the Dark One was the best thing that could have ever happened to her?

It had been so long since she had someone she wanted to comfort.

Emma took two steps forward, and then another step back.

"I'll explain," she said, "Better. I'll show you."

Dark plumes of magic surrounded them, snuffing out all the light of the torches, leaving the cave in darkness once again.

 


End file.
